US Prepares for Possible Cruise Missile Attack on Syria Government Forces

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We are on a road that leads straight to the World War 3, but in order to see that and to fully understand what is at stake you have to look at the big picture and connect the dots. This video examines the history of the dollar, its relation to oil, and the real motives behind the wars of the past two decades.

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

If you want to see how the Europeans are beginning to view our peace-loving, Nobel Peace prize winning, and exceptionally intelligent president, check out this slide show. Click on "Volgende" to advance to the next picture. There are 20 slides.

The site is in Dutch, but the slides are in English. These images were published in a Dutch newspaper.

I watched John Bolton, former US ambassador to the UN, on Fox this morning. He made a good point about the use of chemical weapons. Syria did not sign the chemical weapons treaty, so while the Syrian use of chemical weapons is horrible, it is not illegal under international law. There is no all-encompassing international law covering the use of chemical weapons. Both Kerry and Obama are wrong.

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." -- Benjamin Franklin

If you want to see how the Europeans are beginning to view our peace-loving, Nobel Peace prize winning, and exceptionally intelligent president, check out this slide show. Click on "Volgende" to advance to the next picture. There are 20 slides.

The site is in Dutch, but the slides are in English. These images were published in a Dutch newspaper.

It make senses too

I watched John Bolton, former US ambassador to the UN, on Fox this morning. He made a good point about the use of chemical weapons. Syria did not sign the chemical weapons treaty, so while the Syrian use of chemical weapons is horrible, it is not illegal under international law. There is no all-encompassing international law covering the use of chemical weapons. Both Kerry and Obama are wrong.

John Bolton, former US ambassador to the UN, is one of the most credible.

Is President Obama going to respect the Congress decision? That's a hard one

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

The administration’s public case for chemical weapons use by the Syrian government is extremelyweak, and former high-level intelligence officers say that publicly-available information proves that the Syrian government likely did not carry out the chemical weapons attacks.
The Obama administration claims that classified intelligence proves that it was the Assad government which carried out the attacks.
But numerous congressional members who have seen the classified intelligence information say that it is no better than the public war brief … and doesn’t prove anything.
Congressman Justin Amash said last week:

What I heard in Obama admn briefing actually makes me more skeptical of certain significant aspects of Pres’s case for attacking

He noted yesterday, after attending another classified briefing and reviewing more classified materials:

I have just attended a classified Congressional briefing on Syria that quite frankly raised more questions than it answered. I found the evidence presented by Administration officials to be circumstantial.

New Hampshire Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, for instance, left Thursday’s classified hearing and said she was opposed to the effort “now so more than ever.”
“I think there’s a long way to go for the president to make the case,” she said after the briefing. “It does seem there is a high degree of concern and leaning no.”

Senator Joe Manchin announced he was voting “no” for a Syria strike right after hearing a classified intelligence brieifng.
Congressman Alan Grayson points out in the New York Times:
The documentary record regarding an attack on Syria consists of just two papers: a four-page unclassified summary and a 12-page classified summary. The first enumerates only the evidence in favor of an attack. I’m not allowed to tell you what’s in the classified summary, but you can draw your own conclusion. [I.e. it was no more impressive than the 4-page public version.]
On Thursday I asked the House Intelligence Committee staff whether there was any other documentation available, classified or unclassified. Their answer was “no.”
The Syria chemical weapons summaries are based on several hundred underlying elements of intelligence information. The unclassified summary cites intercepted telephone calls, “social media” postings and the like, but not one of these is actually quoted or attached — not even clips from YouTube. (As to whether the classified summary is the same, I couldn’t possibly comment, but again, draw your own conclusion.)
***
And yet we members are supposed to accept, without question, that the proponents of a strike on Syria have accurately depicted the underlying evidence, even though the proponents refuse to show any of it to us or to the American public.
In fact, even gaining access to just the classified summary involves a series of unreasonably high hurdles.
We have to descend into the bowels of the Capitol Visitors Center, to a room four levels underground. Per the instructions of the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, note-taking is not allowed.
Once we leave, we are not permitted to discuss the classified summary with the public, the media, our constituents or even other members. Nor are we allowed to do anything to verify the validity of the information that has been provided.
And this is just the classified summary. It is my understanding that the House Intelligence Committee made a formal request for the underlying intelligence reports several days ago. I haven’t heard an answer yet. And frankly, I don’t expect one.

U.S. taxpayers have spent at least $1,010,354,195 on Syrian humanitarian aid for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, according to official numbers from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
USAID, which was created by President John F. Kennedy, is the federal government's primary agency in charge of distributing civilian foreign aid.

Last month, President Barack Obama pledged $195 million in additional humanitarian support to Syrians affected by the country's civil war, tipping U.S. taxpayer spending over the $1 billion threshold.
"To help the many Syrians in need this Eid al-Fitr, the United States is providing an additional $195 million in food aid and other humanitarian aid, bringing our humanitarian contribution to the Syrian people to over $1 billion since the crisis began," Obama said in a White House statement. "For millions of Americans, Eid is part of a great tapestry of America’s many traditions, and I wish all Muslims a blessed and joyful celebration. Eid Mubarak."
The United States is the largest contributor of Syrian humanitarian aid. However, Syrians embroiled in the current conflict say U.S. taxpayer-funded aid is insufficient and not reaching those most in need in the opposition-held north.

"The vast majority of aid is going to territory controlled by President Bashar al-Assad, and the small amount reaching opposition-held areas is all but invisible," the New York Times reported.

Humanitarian workers in Syria like Ghassan Hitto, the chief coordinator for the Western-backed Syrian national coalition, say they are frustrated with the poorly-run relief efforts.
"We believe we are owed an explanation over where this money is going, but every time we ask, we can't get an answer."

Italian journalist Domenico Quirico and Belgian national Pierre Piccinin, set free on Sunday five months after being kidnapped in Syria, faced mock executions and twice tried to escape their captors.

Piccinin said on Monday they faced "real violence" and mock executions after being captured by rebel forces in April.
Quirico, 62, is a well-known war correspondent in Italy who worked from African hot spots including Libya, Sudan, Darfur and Mali. He entered Syria from Lebanon without an official visa and went missing in early April between Damascus and the flashpoint central city of Homs.
Scant detail has emerged of their release on Sunday but Quirico's newspaper said Italy's secret services had stepped up efforts to secure their release ahead of feared US military strikes.
"Physically, we are okay despite the torture we suffered," Piccinin told Bel RTL radio station shortly after returning to Belgium.
"There was sometimes real violence ...humiliation, bullying, mock executions ... Domenico faced two mock executions, with a revolver," he said.
Piccinin, a history teacher in a southern Belgian town, and Quericio, a correspondent for Italy's La Stampa daily, entered Syria via Lebanon in April.
Shortly afterwards, the Western-backed Free Syrian Army picked them up and handed them over to the Abu Ammar brigade, a rebel group "more bandit than Islamist," Piccinin told Le Soir daily.
The five months they were held proved to be "a terrifying odyssey across Syria," he told Bel RTL.
"We were moved around a lot...it was not always the same group that held us, there were very violent groups, very anti-West and some anti-Christian."
Piccinin said they tried to escape twice, once while their captors were at prayer, but they were tracked down after two days and "seriously punished."
Piccinin, an Arabic speaker who has travelled to Syria seven times since the conflict broke out in 2011, said the rebel cause had changed, descending into banditry.
"I think it has become very dangerous for Westerners to go to Syria in current conditions, with the revolution (against President Bashar al-Assad) disintegrating," he said.
After the two men were freed Sunday, they were flown to Rome on an Italian government plane.
Quirico, who was on his fourth trip to Syria when he was kidnapped, spoke to prosecutors in Rome on Monday about his ordeal after meeting with Prime Minister Enrico Letta.
Quirico looked gaunt and tired in images shown on Italian television.
"I have lived for five months as if I was on Mars. I was badly treated and scared," he told journalists.
La Stampa said the kidnappers were part of the "galaxy of rebel groups - a jumble of slogans, movements and war profiteers that is hard to work out."
The concern had been that as the possibility of US-led air strikes on Syria increases, "the frontline could move rapidly and contact could be lost with kidnappers," it said.
During his captivity, Quirico was able to briefly call his wife on June 6th, apparently from the former rebel bastion of Qusayr, near the Lebanese border, southwest of Homs.
The foreign ministry later called on the media not to published unconfirmed information about the kidnapping and to let caution prevail when reporting about the case.
Italy is also trying to free another one of its nationals missing in Syria since July, Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, a Jesuit priest who has lived in Syria for many years to promote inter-religious dialogue.
Following Quirico's release there are 13 journalists still missing in Syria, according to media rights watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF).
Among the kidnapped are two French journalists, Didier Francois and Edouard Elias, who were picked up in June on the road to Aleppo. According to the head of their support committee, Serge July, they are being held by a group that claims to be part of the resistance.
US journalist James Foley, 39, who worked for Global Post, Agence France-Presse and other international media, was kidnapped in northwest Syria and has been missing since November 22nd 2012.
Foley's family have said they believe he is being held by Syrian security services in a detention centre near Damascus. In an interview in May, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he had "no information" on this.

Russia To Push Syria To Put Chemical Weapons Under International Control

In a surprise move, Russia promised Monday to push its ally Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control and then dismantle them quickly to avert U.S. strikes. The announcement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came a few hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that Syrian President Bashar Assad could resolve the crisis surrounding the alleged use of chemical weapons by his forces by surrendering control of "every single bit" of his arsenal to the international community by the end of the week.
Kerry added that he thought Assad "isn't about to do it," but Lavrov, who just wrapped a round of talks in Moscow with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem, said that Moscow would try to convince the Syrians.
"If the establishment of international control over chemical weapons in that country would allow avoiding strikes, we will immediately start working with Damascus," Lavrov said.
"We are calling on the Syrian leadership to not only agree on placing chemical weapons storage sites under international control, but also on its subsequent destruction and fully joining the treaty on prohibition of chemical weapons," he said.
Lavrov said that he has already handed over the proposal to al-Moallem and expects a "quick, and, hopefully, positive answer."
His statement followed media reports alleging that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who discussed Syria with President Barack Obama during the group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg last week, sought to negotiate a deal that would have Assad hand over control of chemical weapons.